What is wonderful in the covenant God made with Abraham
and his descendants was the fact that He would be their God. It was the best gift
to them. In verse 7, God told Abraham saying, “I will…be your God”. Then in
verse 8, He said, referring to Abraham’s descendants, “I will be their God”.
Here, El Shaddai, the God Almighty, was giving Himself as a gift to them. It
was the best gift anyone could ever dreamed of. God gave Himself to Abraham and
His descendants. Isn’t this very like God? In the New Testament God again gave
His very best. John 3:16 tells us, “He so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son….” Nothing can be better than to have God with us throughout life’s
journey. And this was God’s promise to Abraham and to us, his descendants. And
this is also Christ’s promise to us. This was what He said before His ascension,
“Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the ages!” What a privilege!
Abraham couldn’t have fully understood the whole
implication of the promise and the covenant God had made with him. The promise
was not just about his physical heirs, but also all of us his spiritual heirs. Today
regardless of what nationality, we can all become a part of that covenant through
Christ, where God Himself will be our God and we, His people. But like all
privileges, there is also a responsibility in being part of this covenant. It
was imperative that Abraham and his descendants kept this covenant. Verse 9 explicitly said it: “…you shall keep
My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their
generations.”
As a reminder of the covenant, God gave them a
sign – circumcision. Abraham himself was to be circumcised. This mark on Abraham’s
reproductive organ was a permanent reminder that it was God who had given him his
descendants, even while he had passed the age of child bearing. This clearly
indicated that his son that would be born to him was a miracle of God. It was
God who had granted him the success where his own human flesh had failed. God
further instructed that any male child in the household would be circumcised on
the eighth day. Bear in mind that his son and his future descendants were yet
to be born. For now, all servants he had acquired and those born in his
household must be circumcised. This shall be an everlasting sign of the
covenant God was making with him and his descendants. It is interesting to note
that God had chosen a sign that could not be reversed. It is intended to show
the everlasting nature of the covenant. This was in fact a sign of a permanent
bond between God and His circumcised people. The instruction to circumcise all
male, even the servants, suggests that to God there is no class distinction. Even
servants have a place in His plan. Remember circumcision wold mean nothing when
faith does not exist.
Why did God choose circumcision as a sign? God
wanted Abraham to remember that Isaac was a God granted miracle. The
circumcision served to remind him that he had Isaac even though he had passed
the capacity to father a child. Circumcision now also serves as God’s indication
that the male reproductive organ that is subjected to abuse must be dedicated to
Him. The whole course of bringing a baby into this world is the most creative
physical act granted to man. It is perhaps the one process closest to God’s
creative ability. Hence for a man to use his reproductive organ for sex outside
of God’s designed purpose, will be a distortion of God’s intention for its use.
This is a call to Christian men to ensure marital fidelity.
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